Memphis mom charged with using sword to threaten school employees

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - A spitting match between two students at Riverview Elementary School Monday apparently led to a bizarre encounter in the office Tuesday morning.

"She had spit on me so I spit on her back," said second grader Aaliyyah Price.

Price and her grandmother spoke with us from the family's home. They said 32-year-old Toni Price went to the school to confront the parents of the girl who spit on her daughter.

"She said she went up there to talk to the girl's parents," said Bennie Price. "But the girl's parents wasn't there."

According to court records, Toni Price ended up inside the school where an employee reported a drunk woman was armed with a sword running through the halls of the school. She told police Price was threatening to cut her.

Officers who arrived on the scene retrieved a black walking cane in which a long sharp blade is concealed.

"When I got up there I took the cane," said Price's mother, Bennie. "I had it, police drew guns on me, and I didn't know what was going on."

Price's mother believes she probably had the weapon to ward off pit bulls in the neighborhood and had no idea where she may have gotten such a weapon.

"I don't know," she said.

She said she does know her daughter would have never actually hurt anyone inside the school.

Price told police she drank a 40 ounce bottle of Colt 45 before going to the school. She's charged with aggravated assault and for having a weapon on school property. Her bond is set at $4500.